Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth
by Patwas-Potter
Summary: Important Author Note - Please Read. In an era of termoil a legend from the past returns to right the wrongs of futures past. In Harry's 6th year he's once more wrapped up in another thrilling adventure with suspense, action and romance along the way.
1. In the Beginning

Hello. Here is yet another fic from me – probably not a very good idea to have four stories on the go at the same time, but this is an idea I couldn't resist. I saw a thread over on the Fictionalley forums asking for fics with Grindelwald in Albus' body, and this sprang to mind. It's not quite the same thing, but it will have a few twists, as well as a lot on the as yet unexplored history of Grindelwald and Albus' role in that wart.

In addition, this fic will have a lot of foreign dialog, mainly in Dutch, which will be indicated by italics. I do not confess to be an expert in the Dutch language, and currently speak only a little, enough to get by. Therefore, if anyone wants to have a stab at translating the Dutch dialog, that would be much appreciated. Also, if anyone wants to translate this fic into any language at all, please do. All I ask is that I be given credit where due.

Enjoy, and do take a moment to leave a review.

DISCLAIMER

I do not own any of the trademarks, characters, settings or situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe. All copyrights for these are held by J. K. Rowling. All other material contained herein is my own. This material may be copied or reproduced in alternative formats, however I ask you out of courtesy to seek my permission before doing so. Thank you.

**Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth**

**Chapter 1 – In the Beginning**

"Lieber ein Ende mit Schrecken als ein Schrecken  
ohne Ende". ("Better an end to terror, than terror without end") – German proverb, 1938.

"_Mijn Herr?_"

The female voice echoed around the dark room. Many who could have seen the place at the moment would have thought it to be underground. In fact, it was simply that any and all sources of external daylight had been meticulously blocked out.

The room was large. This much could be determined by the echo bouncing off the walls. And this would also lead one to conclude that the walls were made out of stone. Some kind of chamber, or cavern then. There were torches lit at each corner, casting their feeble light around the walls and floor. The room appeared to be mostly empty, but if one were to look closely, they would notice a small desk, with a rickety looking chair behind it. There were also shelves, oh yes, lines and lines of shelves with lines and lines of books. For books were something this room, and by extension its owner was by no means short of. And as any devoted librarian and literaturist will tell you, books equal knowledge, and knowledge equals power.

"_Mijn Herr?_" the voice repeated. "_Are you sure about this?_"

"_Yes, my dear, I am. This must be done. The world has lived in turmoil and chaos long enough. I will not see my nation, my line, my people turned into pawns on a chessboard, weapons in a child's little game, sacrificial lambs to the slaughter._"

The voice that spoke was, of course, male, with a strong accent. No one up until now had quite been able to place it, although many swore it was a mix of Dutch and Nordic. But alas, we digress from the main point of this narration. The voice held a melodic quality, one that seemed to soothe the soul, oozing reassurance, courage, hope and determination.

"_I will go, and I will do my utmost to see that justice is done. No, I will not rest until justice is done. I will not rest until my line, my people are just, happy and content. I will do what should have been done long ago, right those that have been wronged, and set the scene for future generations._"

"_But Mijn Herr! We are not talking about something small. We are talking about something bigger than anything that has been done before. We are talking about changing the very essence of-._"

The female was interrupted before she could continue. The voice that replied was firm, seeking no disagreement.

"_No. It will be fine. You will see. No, afterwards we shall all see._"

"_Very well. But where you go, I shall follow. And it is no use arguing with me on that._"

The voice was filled with conviction. The man sighed. She was right. There was no use arguing. If she wanted to follow, no power on Earth would stop her. It was a measure of the respect he had for her that he made no response. And this in itself was odd, as the man was by no means a pushover when he wanted or needed to get a point across.

"_Fine._" he commented. "_Let us begin._"

The female, and remember she was still wrapped in shadows and hence unrecognisable apart from her voice, walked forward a few paces. Her outline could be discerned, a few metres from the desk, as she raised her hand. A deep sigh was heard, before she started chanting in some unknown language.

The very atmosphere in the room seemed to grow heavy, and seemed to emit an almost tangible sense of anticipation and even longing. A white light filled the room, growing brighter to the point where it was painful to watch. A few seconds later, with the chanting continuing, there was a bang and then silence.

If one were to enter the room, they would find it exactly the same as at the beginning of this chapter. The same, that is, but for the two occupants, who were now nowhere to be found.

Two hundred and eighty eight miles, or four hundred and sixty point two kilometres away, a young boy, no man rolled over in his sleep. His dreams up until now had been terrible, filled with death and destruction. Little did he know that this would change from now on.

Well this is the first chapter. Short I know, but I always prefer writing shorter chapters and then combining them at a later stage. I can't promise when the next instalment will be out, as I'm slap bang in the middle of coursework at the moment. I'll just say it'll be soon, and leave it at that.

Hussein (patwas-potter)


	2. The Merger

DISCLAIMER

I do not own any of the trademarks, characters, settings or situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe. All copyrights for these are held by J. K. Rowling. All other material contained herein is my own. This material may be copied or reproduced in alternative formats, however I ask you out of courtesy to seek my permission before doing so. Thank you.

**Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth**

**Chapter 2 – The Merger**

It had been about three weeks since Harry Potter, commonly referred to as The-Boy-Who-Lived had returned to the house on Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey where he lived with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon. The relationship between them could best be described as one of mutual hate and loathing. Oh yes, his Aunt and uncle would no more wish Harry to live with them any longer than necessary than you or I would wish to live in a rubbish heap. For that is indeed what they considered him to be – scum, filth, lower than that even. However, they very grudgingly put up with him. After all, family was family, no matter how despised, and they certainly would not want a person's death on their conscience. It had been just a few days before the end of term that Professor Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had explained to Harry that the blood wards around his Aunt and Uncle's house protected him from Voldermort and those who would mean him harm.

Since his return, Harry had been suffering from nightly nightmares, nightmares of his Godfather Sirius who had been struck down whilst saving him at the Department of Mysteries not long ago. Harry endured recurring recollections of the battle that had taken place, watching every time with horror and grief as Sirius was hit by that jet of red light and sent hurtling through the Veil, the Veil of Death from which no one had ever returned, either alive or dead.

But this was three weeks later. The days preceding had been stifling hot by day and uncomfortably warm by night. And this night was no exception. Harry had gone to bed as usual, waiting unresistingly for the terrors, which he knew, would come. And they had, except that this time things ended differently. Instead of waking up sweating and shaking as he usually did, he had fallen into a deep sleep once the ritualistic nightmare had concluded.

He stood, frozen to the spot as the battle raged around him. He watched in fascination as his Godfather stood opposite his cousin, the two taunting each other back and forth, as though they were children, except that this taunting had a dark, menacing quality to it. His eyes followed Sirius' body as it arced gracefully, following a curved trajectory towards and then through the Veil. But then the scene changed.

He found himself standing in a field, a field filled with yellow tulips. The sun was shining brightly overhead and the sky was a clear azure blue. It was calm and tranquil. Harry looked around, seeing the flowers stretching off into the distance, mile after mile. Bringing his gaze back closer in to himself, he noticed a man walking towards him. The man was tall, with a slim build that even so looked powerful and graceful at the same time. He had black hair that reached down to his shoulders and brown eyes that shone with passion, or was that determination. He did not seem threatening at all and Harry found himself taking an instinctual liking to him.

The man stopped a few paces short of Harry's position and looked him up and down. He nodded to himself, as though agreeing mentally with some pre-determined thought.

"Hello Harry Potter and welcome."

"Err, Hello." replied Harry. "I'm sorry, but who are you and where is this place?"

The man chuckled, a genuine one filled with humour.

"Ah welcome to my home. Welcome to the Netherlands. You have surely heard about our legendary tulip fields?"

Harry gaped. The Netherlands? He had never travelled abroad before, let alone anywhere in the UK apart from London and to Hogwarts. Whenever the Dursleys went on holiday they would leave him with his cat-obsessed neighbour, Mrs. Figg, an old and slightly forgetful witch who loved showing him photo albums of her litter of cats. To find himself in a completely new place without explanation was frankly a little un-nerving, despite the fact that he was a wizard and therefore familiar with strange happenings going on without any reason.

"Err, Okay." he stammered, "But who are you?"

"My name is Grindelwald. Johann Friedrich Grindelwald."

Harry stiffened. Here he was, somehow transported hundreds of miles to a place where he was alone with one of the most powerful dark wizards of recent time with no means to defend himself. But wait, wasn't Grindelwald dead, killed by Dumbledore in 1945? Harry remembered this fact from his first ever-Chocolate Frog card, which he had on his very first trip to Hogwarts at the age of eleven. Could this be another trick of Voldermort's then, just like the vision of Sirius being held at the Department of Mysteries? But then surely he would have realised that the same ploy would not work a second time?

"But, but you're dead! Dumbledore killed you!"

A look of pain crossed the other wizard's face for a brief moment before his initial expression returned.

"My dear boy. Please do not be so quick to jump to conclusions. Do you not think it possible for history to have deceived you? Do they not say that history is written by the victors? Is it not entirely possible that the people were told what they wanted to be told? Do you think the people would be anything but comfortable if they were not told that a Dark Lord had been killed and peace restored? Please, I ask you to think. I ask you to use the Gryffindor nobility that I can see in your eyes. I ask you to hear my story and to hold your judgement until after it has been told."

Harry stood there, stunned. It was not that Grindelwald was being civil; it was more the fact that, now he came to think of it, what he had said made sense. There was so very little that was known about the war with Grindelwald. That whole era was wrapped in mystique and intrigue. All people ever talked about were the two wars with Voldermort, the first that Harry had brought to an end with his defeat of the dark wizard when he was just one year old, and the second, which had been started when his blood had been forcibly taken for Voldermort's resurrection at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. He grudgingly decided to let the other wizard have his say.

"Fine, say your piece."

"Very well, but this may take some time. Do permit me to be seated, and do join me. I swear on my magic that no harm will befall you whilst I tell my story."

With that, a streak of white light shot from Grindelwald's chest and into Harry's. He could feel the magic of the oath solidifying within him with his acceptance of the terms.

Grindelwald approached and sat down on the grass next to Harry, brushing a few of the tulips out of the way. He waited until Harry had joined him on the ground before continuing.

"First of all, you should know that this is not real. It is a dream projection. Your body is, in fact, still lying back at your home. But there was no other way in which I could talk to you face to face. When you wake, you will be in the same place as when you went to sleep."

"Now to get to the main part of what I wanted to explain to you. Yes, I am Grindelwald. Yes, everyone thinks I was killed back in 1945. But no, I was not killed, and no, I did not perform any dark or dangerous rituals to bring my soul back from the dead."

Harry gave a short laugh at that. The way it had been said just sounded so odd. Grindelwald ignored the interruption and continued.

"What the people do not know is that I had a brother. Sebastian was always the more aggressive one. Much like the Voldermort of your time, he had visions of becoming _the _supreme ruler of the world, but not just the magical world. He wanted to rule the Muggles as well. Unlike voldermort, he thought the Muggles could be put to some use. He intended to wait until Hitler had captured Europe, until World War II had come to an end and then depose him to take his place."

Harry gasped. Had this come to pass it would have been truly terrifying.

"Not many know that I was friends with Albus Dumbledore. Those who did are now dead. When Albus was younger, teaching Transfiguration, and I was still free, he had come to the Netherlands seeking knowledge. He was always interested in new ways to use magic, magic that would make things easier for everyday tasks. I worked with him, and we built up a friendship. He ended up becoming my apprentice."

"When you were free? Were you captured?" asked Harry.

"In a manner of speaking. My brother had spent the time travelling as well, but instead of learning, he had been forming alliances with other powerful witches and wizards, promising power and prestige. Who could resist that? It was a time where the Muggle world was still recovering from the effects of the First World War There was the potential to exploit this weakness. For Sebastian it was an easy opportunity to start building his power base."

"It was not until 1941 when he struck. I was stronger magically, and in his opinion killing me would be a waste of time and resources. Once the war was over it was his hope that he could use my power, either by coercion or by force, to further his own gains. Therefore, he needed me alive, but my connection to Albus whom by this time had started to raise opposition to his movements was a liability. He bound both me and my mate using a combination of what is known in your time as the Fidelus Charm and a binding charm. The charm meant that I would be unable to leave my home, and that no one would be able to find me. My home was stocked up with food and drink, and he would deliver anything that I needed; books, parchment, anything. I could not contact anyone and no one could contact me. I was not a risk, as I could not do anything that would affect the outside world. He took on my identity and left me there"

By this time Harry's jaw had dropped and he was just sitting there, speechless, staring at Grindelwald, listening to this story that seemed so fantastic, but yet that he somehow knew was the truth.

"So the war continued. The Muggle Allied Powers started to fight back and the Muggle World War turned in their favour. Sebastian was finding it more and more difficult to keep hold of his followers, who by this time could see that his promises of power would not bear fruit. He decided to make one last stand. He would have to keep the magical world and rule it with an iron fist. And the last place that would be expecting an attack was..."

"Britain.", Harry breathed.

"Britain." Grindelwald continued. It had stayed out of the war so far, at least as far as the magical world was concerned. Whilst Albus was fighting Sebastian in Europe Britain had remained unguarded."

"But then came May 1945. Hitler had lost the Muggle war and was declared dead. Sebastian's muggle puppet was no more. He went mad, going on a killing spree that tore through the heart of Austria and Germany. It was finally brought to an end by Albus Dumbledore in the Black forest in June 1945. And the world celebrated. Grindelwald had been defeated. I had been defeated. And that is also incidentally, where the rumour was founded that I was German. In fact, the Grindelwald line has never had roots in Germany. The Netherlands has been our home for generations, and the Nordic lands before that."

"But now?" questioned Harry.

"As I said, Johann was dead, but I was not dead. I was still alive, gathering knowledge. I knew what was going on in the world around me, for Sebastian took great pleasure in boasting of his achievements. Now usually when a person dies, and there are spells or charms bound to that person, as the charms on my home were, they are destroyed. But Sebastian was powerful. Maybe not as powerful as Dumbledore or myself, but still powerful. The charms were weakened. Not destroyed but weakened. But they were still strong enough to prevent me from leaving, and to prevent anyone from finding me or the home."

"Now let us move forward in time to about a week ago. I had of course kept track of events that were taking placing. I heard about voldermort's defeat, and I was pleased. At least the world was at peace once more. I hoped that the people would see the errors of their ways and take steps to ensure that such a catastrophe would never occur again. Alas, they did not. Corrupt governments were left in power, outdated laws were never scrapped and the people became complacent. I heard about you and your exploits and I was happy. Finally, someone had come who would not stand for the chaos that wrought the wizarding world. I heard when voldemort got his body back and I hoped. I hoped that steps would be taken to see that he did not bring the world to its knees as happened last time, as happened with my brother. But it did not. And now, now I have lost my patience."

The expression on Grindelwald's face had become determined.

"I have lost patience with the people of my country. I have lost patience with my line. I have lost patience with the wizarding world. Those who have the power to bring about change have done nothing. Nothing! They have let things continue as they have done for years. Half the wizarding world's infrastructure is more than thirty years old! Tell me Harry, where is the power that wizards once had to command? Where is the legislature that ensured that order and justice prevailed? Where is the harmony and equality between races that once ruled the land? Where?"

Harry could only shake his head and remain silent.

"It has been squandered, looted and wasted! It has been taken for granted and it has been diluted! And I, Will, Not, Stand, For, It!"

With each of the last five words, the older wizard raised and slapped his hand against his thigh as though to emphasize his point. He took a deep breath and went on.

"Which is where you come in, Harry. I thought to myself, how can I make things right again? How can I restore the glory that was once the wizarding world? And the idea came to me. What if I combined the knowledge and skill of the old with the youth and power of the young? And then I remembered. I remembered about the club you started at Hogwarts last year. Yes," he said, seeing the surprised look on Harry's face, "I heard of that, and how determined you were to see that your classmates and fellow students were prepared for the troubled times to come. And I thought to myself that here was a person that could go on to do great things. Yes, great and powerful things."

Harry was strongly reminded at this point of the old wand maker in Diagon Alley, Olivander, for he had said the exact same things about Harry when his wand had been chosen.

"A person who could do these things if only he were given the necessary help and guidance. And knowledge. Remember, Harry, that no one can ever have too much knowledge. And I have gained a considerable amount during my isolation."

"Harry, I ask you now to listen to my proposal. By doing what I suggest we can both work together to improve the wizarding world. Yes, I can feel you wanting to ask the question, what do I gain from all this? It's quite simple. I gain the satisfaction of knowing that my people, my line has returned to the old ways of magic before they torn asunder. I gain the satisfaction of knowing that something good has come from all that I have learned. I gain the satisfaction of knowing that people will be prepared for the next darkness, the next crisis. For believe me, there will always be someone willing to fill the mantle of Dark Lord. It is something that nature calls, that has to be, that keeps the balance. And what do you gain? You gain the knowledge, the power and the confidence to fulfil the burden that has been placed upon you. You gain the ability to put the fame you have earned, albeit rightly or wrongly depending on your opinion to some use, to shape the wizarding world to do good for that world. You gain the ability to do things that you want to do, to do things that you can be recognised for having done yourself, instead of having had done for you."

Harry had been thinking whilst the other wizard was speaking. Unlike in the past, he did not feel as though he was being manipulated. He did not feel as though things were running outside his control. He actually felt that he had the opportunity to have a say in what was happening. And he agreed with the other wizard's views. He agreed that things had to done, drastic things, and they had to be done soon. And, he thought as his Slytherin side came to the front, he would be crazy to turn down this wizard's freely offered help.

"Fine," he said, a smile lighting upon his face. "Go ahead. Tell me your plan."

Grindelwald smiled as well.

"Once again, it is simple. I have done some of the work already. Obviously, I cannot simply waltz into London and start destroying Death Eaters left, right and centre. It would simply cause too much chaos. And therefore, if I cannot be there in body, I can be with you in spirit instead. I can merge my spirit with yours."

Harry gaped. Merging spirits? Visions of dual personalities and changing attitude at the drop of a hat ran through his mind.

"So would I become you then?" he asked, his voice rising.

"Oh, lord no!" the other wizard replied emphatically.

"What will happen is that you will gain all of my knowledge, power skills and experience and some of my characteristics. You will also have all of my memories. It will take a little while to sort through them all, but by the time you're finished you should have gained all the knowledge of Occlumency, Legillimency, duelling, and etiquette. And as for the characteristics, you will have gained the ability to infuse magic into your voice and movements. You'll be able to command an entire room to silence simply by speaking – I always loved that one." he chuckled.

"But what about you? Will transferring your spirit just leaves your body as a shell or something?"

"Ah, well actually yes, but don't worry. I will technically be dead, I suppose, but I don't mind. I'm rather looking forward to it. I've done what I could, and whereas it hasn't really been fun, the knowledge that my life will have helped to bring good to the world is enough for me."

"But…"

"Anyway," he interrupted before Harry could finish his sentence. "We should be moving on now. We have been talking for some time and it will soon be time for you to wake up. You will know everything in the morning, I promise. Now just relax. As I said half the work has already been done, all I need to do is the merger."

Lord Grindelwald raised himself to his feet, and turned around until he was facing Harry.

"Thank you for listening to me Harry. Thank you for helping me, and I am honoured to be able to help you. Carry the mantle with pride, my son."

He started moving his hands in various patterns, chanting under his breath as he went. Harry started to feel drowsy, and the world around him seemed to blur.

"Take care of Natalie, and have fun!", was the last thing he heard, said in a jolly, almost excited voice as his eyes closed and he knew no more.

Phew! That was a long one, probably the longest I have ever written. This is some of the historical content I mentioned at the start of chapter one, and even though there's hardly any action in here, do keep it in mind as it's important to set the scene. Any guesses who Natalie is. You'll like her.

Does anyone else agree with me that the most tedious part of writing is the proof reading and spell-checking that comes afterwards?

Do take a moment to leave a review. Can't tell you when the next chapter will be out, I really should be doing my coursework, but blame the plot bunnies for sidetracking me!

Last Edited: Sunday 23 April 2006 (and as I forgot, Chapter 1 was last edited yesterday, Saturday 22 April 2006).


	3. Getting to Know Oneself

Hello. Back again. This is one fic where the ideas are actually coming to me in a logical sequence, allowing me to write each chapter in order. By the way, sorry for the author notes at the bottom running together with the main chapter. My row of equals' signs does not appear to show up. Anyone know a way around this, or will I just have to stick to dashes instead?

Do take a moment to leave a review. I know people are reading this from the stats, but it would be good to know what you actually think of it.

**Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth**

**Chapter 3 – Getting to Know Oneself**

It was about six hours later when Harry awoke. The sun could be seen shining on the garden at the back of the house and light was pouring in through the window.

Initially, it was as though this was simply another normal day during the summer. Soon memories of the dreams he had had the night before began to catch up with him. Of course, there were the usual nightmares of Sirius' death, but then he remembered the conversation with Grindelwald. He suddenly sat up straight in bed. Grindelwald! He had spoken with Grindelwald and the wizard had merged with him. That dream had seemed so vivid though.

"But," said a voice in his head that sounded eerily like one of his best friends, Hermione Granger, "haven't you had such vivid dreams before, and did they not turn out to be true in reality?"

He thought back over the conversation, running through everything that had been said quickly in his mind. Suddenly, he remembered what the other wizard had said about Harry gaining all of his knowledge and skills.

"But I don't know anything different." he pondered.

However, no sooner had that thought entered his head when he started recalling knowledge that he had never had before. Knowledge of curses, charms and hexes, knowledge of rituals and potions, knowledge of customs, cultures and languages, knowledge of politics and etiquette and knowledge of people and places suddenly flooded his mind, along with the histories associated with them all. He reeled, almost being physically pushed back into the bed, astonished and, truth be told a little frightened by the vast well of knowledge he now possessed. He felt very drowsy all of a sudden, and within a few minutes was fast asleep once again, and once again, without the nightmares that had plagued him in the past.

It has been known for the brain to shut down temporarily from overload when flooded or stimulated with a lot of information, as had just happened to Harry, or in other similar cases such as a legillimes attack on another person for a long period of time or the extreme and intense use of a pensieve. It is for this reason that Harry awoke, a couple of hours later, still feeling a little confused but thankfully less 'full', if you'll pardon the pun. It would take him several days of meditating, the knowledge of which had been newly gained, and a number of filled journals and notebooks before he had gone through all of the information and categorized it into a form that was somewhat useful to him.

He sat up, swung his legs over to the edge of the bed, reached over to the bedside table for his glasses, put them on, looked around and froze. There, lying on the floor next to his bed was a girl. A girl that looked no older than himself. She had long, blonde hair that cascaded down to her shoulders in waves like a curtain. She was lying on her side facing Harry, clearly asleep, and from what he could see had a joyful-looking, rounded face. She looked to be about Harry's height, with a slim build, although it was difficult to tell with her lying down.

He wondered for a moment who she was, and what she was doing here, until his new knowledge and the information about the girl contained therein caught up with him.

"Of course." he thought. This was Natalie, Grindelwald's assistant. He remembered though that he had called her his mate, or was that now Harry's mate. He wondered how it was that she came to look so young, as the numbers just didn't add up. But he would look into that later. For the moment, she was definitely good-looking, lying there, fast asleep without a care in the world.

He stood up, taking care not to step on her, and sub-consciously conjured a sleeping bag and set of pillows. He levitated her a few centimetres off the ground, and then moved her into position with the sleeping bag wrapped around her body and with her head resting on the pillows. It was not until some time later that he would realise that he had done all of this without his wand, and with little effort.

He looked over at the clock that sat on the small, rickety table next to his bed. It showed that it was still early, early enough for his Aunt, Uncle, and of course, his obscenely obese cousin, Dudley, to still is asleep. He moved over to the door, opened it quietly, and made his way to the bathroom. Shutting the door, he prepared for a shower and then let the warm, cascading water flow over him.

Feeling considerably refreshed, he changed and made his way back to his room. Keeping quiet so as not to wake his companion, he sat down at his desk, debating on what to do next. "Should he contact the Order of the Phoenix, the secret organisation set up by Professor Dumbledore to fight against Voldemort and his forces, letting them know what had happened?" "No," he reasoned, "the Professor had obviously kept the whole Grindelwald affair quiet for a reason, or perhaps he didn't even know. It might not be the wisest thing to divulge such valuable information. He would wait and see what would happen. He would have to talk to Natalie of course, to see what she had to say first."

He heard a rustling at that moment, and looked over to see that the girl had awakened, and was now lying with her knees folded up and her feet flat on the floor. Her eyes were now open, and she was gazing up at him. He could see that they were a brilliant azure blue, a darker shade even than the bright morning sky. They were the sort of eyes that one could get lost in, captured into their depths.

"Hello Natalie,", he said, his voice bright but tinged with a touch of nervousness.

"_Hello, mijn Herr_", she replied. Her voice was clear and soft, and even though Grindelwald had known her for years, it sounded like music to Harry's ears. "_I am pleased to see that it worked._"

She continued to gaze at him, moving her eyes down his young frame, from his face with its emerald green eyes, eyes that were looking straight back at her with a mixture of joy and curiosity. She guessed it was from the merging of her Lord's spirit with this younger host. She marvelled at his unruly hair that was sticking up in all directions, clearly from the shower he had already taken, although she had the feeling that his hair was usually in this state. Her eyes moved down to his chest, his arms, and then to his legs and feet. She frowned, noticing how thin he was. His body had the look of one that had been stunted while growing, but at the same time one that was used to exercise and hard work. She made a mental note to ensure that he ate well. Despite the fact that she had known her Lord, admired and respected him, and been a friend to him for many years, and despite the fact that this was a totally different person, albeit with the knowledge and some of the characteristics of her Lord, she couldn't help feeling that she had a connection to him, as if she had known this person for the same length of time. She moved her eyes back up to his face as she heard him start to speak again. She noticed the frown that marred his face, and wondered what was wrong.

"Please, Natalie, call me Harry. All this 'My Lord' business between friends makes me rather uncomfortable."

"Why, of course, My Lord.," she replied, switching to English and grinning to show that she was teasing. She couldn't help the surge of joy that ran through her at hearing him call her a friend.

Harry grinned too; he was starting to like this girl already. He too could feel that there was a connection between them, the same connection that had linked them together when she was with Grindelwald, but he could also feel that there was something more.

"I know that I have all of Grindelwald's knowledge and skills, but I am still just Harry. Anyway, yes, I too am pleased that it worked. This will be of great benefit to use in the war."

"Will you be telling Albus about this?" she asked.

"No, not for the moment. Too many questions would be asked. I think it better that we wait until the time is right and we are completely ready before making that move. He will send for me to be collected soon, and then it will be our time."

He saw the puzzled look that came across her face at the last sentence and could have kicked himself.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot that you wouldn't have known anything about Harry's lifestyle. That is something we shall have to remedy. But it would take too long to explain everything."

He sat back in the chair with his eyes closed, thinking of how to solve this latest problem. His mind wandered towards Dumbledore, and his circular office at Hogwarts. He remembered the various trinkets and small ornaments that used to sit upon the several round tables that lined the office, used to because many of them had been broken when Harry raged at the Headmaster at the end of the last term. He pictured the beautiful phoenix Fawkes, who often sat on his perch in the corner of the office, and who had helped him in the past when he was in danger. A feeling of longing came over him all of a sudden, but he pushed it to the back of his mind. Picturing the office once more, his mental eyes fixed upon a cabinet behind the Headmaster's great oak desk, a cabinet that held Dumbledore's pensieve, a magical object for storing and replaying memories, and one with which Harry had experience in the past. His eyes blinked open, and he had the answer.

"I have it!" he exclaimed, turning around. The scratching of a quill on parchment filled the room for the next minute or so.

'Dear Professor Dumbledore,

Recent events have leaded me to do quite a bit of thinking and soul searching. I am sure you will agree that my life up until now has been anything but quiet. And because of that, there is a lot to think about. I feel that it would be very helpful to me if I had some means of going through all the memories and feelings associated with these events in order to properly come to terms with them.

I would therefore be grateful, if you wouldn't mind, if I could possibly borrow your pensieve for a few days. Perhaps if Fawkes didn't mind, he could flash over and bring it with him.

I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your help.

Harry Potter.'

Finished, he held the letter out to Natalie for her to read, and receiving a nod of acknowledgement, called over his owl Hedwig.

"Here girl, take this to Professor Dumbledore, please.," he asked. Hedwig gave him an affectionate nip on his finger, fluffed her feathers, and soared out of the open window.

"Right, so hopefully we should have that here soon, and then I can really show you everything that's happened to me so far. I know so much about you already, but it's not really fair that you don't know the real me. Anyway, the Dursleys should be up by now so how about breakfast?"

The Dursleys for once had changed from their usual attitude of using Harry as their house-elf type slave, and had instead taken to ignoring him completely. They still hated him, but he would go down for meals and sit in silence whilst they talked. He would spend the rest of his time in his room or in the garden, alone, which frankly suited him, or at least it had up until now. It was only now that he had company, and moreover company that wasn't constantly badgering him to talk when he didn't want to, that he realised how much he enjoyed it. Granted, it had only been about two hours since they had met, but they had already got used to each other's presence.

The two teenagers made their way downstairs. Before they reached the dining room, Harry stretched out a hand signalling that they should stop.

"Look, this is probably going to get nasty. Please don't worry. I'm used to it."

So saying, he pushed open the door of the dining room and they walked in. Uncle Vernon was already at the table, his face sunk into the morning's paper, one chubby hand gripping the paper and the other a large egg and sausage roll. Dudley had taken his customary place in front of the television, and Aunt Petunia was stood at the stove, her horse-like face grimacing in distaste at the chore she was having to do.

Harry pulled out a chair and sat down, then pulled out another one for Natalie. There was silence for a moment, before Aunt Petunia came over to the table, a small plate bearing one cold slice of toast and an even smaller slice of grapefruit in hand. She stared right at Harry, not seeming to notice the additional person sitting next to him, that is, until she had to lean over her to place the plate on the table.

"Who on earth are you?", she screeched, finally turning to Natalie. Turning back to Harry she continued. "How dare you! You will not sleep with some tramp from god knows where in this house!"

By now, Uncle Vernon had poked his head around from behind his newspaper. His face rapidly turning red, spittle flying from his mouth, he proceeded to rant at Harry.

"I will not have another freak like you in this house! And I won't have you practising your freaky ways here either!"

Natalie, who up until now had remained silent, had quickly had enough of all the shouting and slandering of her Lord and friend. She remained seated, not raising her voice, but it nonetheless cut through the atmosphere like a knife.

"Silence! You will not talk to my Lord in this way. My Lord is kind, polite, and a good friend, and a lot less of a freak than you are."

Surprisingly, Vernon did stop shouting, and did remain quiet.

"Natalie will be staying here, with me, for the remainder of my stay with you. It is an unfortunate but nevertheless true fact that I do not like you, any more than you like me. However, you will not speak to her, molest her, abuse her or intrude upon her in any way. And that goes for me as well. We shall be leaving soon hopefully, and I certainly know that I shall be doing my utmost to ensure that I never have to come back here again." His voice was quiet, but it was laced with a kind of authority that made the Dursleys stop and listen to every word.

That having been said, he pushed back his chair, and with a gesture of his hand Harry and his new friend walked out of the room and back up the stairs. They re-entered his room in silence, both sitting down at either end of the bed. The silence continued for a few seconds more, before it was broken by Natalie.

"Well, that was interesting."

"I know,", replied Harry. "They've never listened to me before, but I'm not going to complain. Anyway, you must be hungry."

Natalie marvelled at Harry's care and compassion for others. The man she had known and respected up until now had always shown these qualities, and she was delighted to see that Harry exhibited them as well. It was beginning to look as though Harry Potter and Grindelwald were very similar in nature.

"Don't worry,", she said. A look of deep concentration came across her face, she waved her hand and a moment later two plates piled high with food appeared hovering in the air in front of them.

"Wow,", exclaimed Harry, looking at the sausages, fried eggs, tomatoes, beagles and orange juice in front of him. "But, wait a minute. Won't you get in trouble with the Ministry?"

Natalie laughed, a warm laugh that was filled with genuine humour. "It's okay. First of all as I am not registered as a British witch, there is no record of me in the Ministry files. And second, wandless magic is not tracked by the Department for Underage Magic. If it were, they would be kept extremely busy by all the accidental magic caused by younger children. It's the same for apparition, except if special wards are set up to detect that kind of magic."

Harry eagerly listened to this new information. "I didn't know that,", he admitted, "But I guess I should have thought of it. I mean, it seems logical enough."

"That's all right.," she replied. "You should be able to do it too, if you concentrate hard enough. It takes some practice, and most people don't bother learning it, but it can be a useful skill if you are ever disarmed of your wand."

"Hmm, I think I probably will,", he responded, as they fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying their breakfast and joint company.

They were still sitting there, just luxuriating in mutual silence and comfort when suddenly there was a bright flash of light and the sound of birdsong that filled them with joy. The bright scarlet and gold visage of Fawkes the phoenix could be seen alighting on Harry's desk, a package clutched firmly in its jaws.

"Fawkes!", exclaimed Harry, as he quickly cast his almost empty plate aside and moved over to the desk. He gently petted the bird with one hand, whilst relieving it of its burden with the other. The bird leant its head into him, enjoying the warmth. He stopped as he noticed that there was a letter taped to the package, and, removing and unfolding it, began to read.

'Dear Harry,

I was pleasantly surprised to receive your letter this morning. I am glad that you are working to move forwards from the events that have happened recently. Once again I am sorry for not being there fore you when you needed me, but as I said when we talked last I truly believed that it was for the best. I hope we can both move on from this in the coming year.

Please find my pensieve attached with this letter. I have no doubt that you have experience using it. Keep it for as long as you need. It often takes us longer than we might think to analyse and digest past actions and memories. Call for Fawkes when you have finished and he will return it to me.

Albus Dumbledore.'

A myriad of emotions filled Harry's mind as he finished reading the letter. He was thankful that Dumbledore had sent the pensieve as it made his job much easier. He was pleased to receive the Headmaster's apology, however it made him feel slightly guilty that he was keeping the man in the dark about what had happened since the start of the summer. He passed the letter to Natalie, who read the it and smiled.

"Well, it looks as though relations between the two of you are slowly getting better."

"Yes, but still I want to wait and see what happens. We'll know better when we see him."

"I know. So,", she said, glancing at the pensieve, "What do you intend to do with that?"

"Well I thought I could place the memories of my life thus far into it and that way you could have a better understanding about me."

"Sounds good.," she said.

He spent the next hour doing just that. When finished, Natalie stood, and grabbing Harry's hand the two leant over the edge of the stone bowl. Their noses touched the silvery liquid that filled it and they were sucked into a new world.


	4. Moving Along

Hello all. Sorry, for the long update. After writing the last chapter, I worked like mad to get my coursework completed on time, and then had to revise equally like mad for the exams. Anyway, now I'm on holiday until September, and apart from two weeks when I'll be away, I do hope to be able to write for at least an hour a day to get this fic moving in some form. This is a short chapter, but next chapter is where the fun really starts. So with further ado…

DISCLAIMER

I do not own any of the trademarks, characters, settings or situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe. All copyrights for these are held by J. K. Rowling. All other material contained herein is my own. This material may be copied or reproduced in alternative formats, however I ask you out of courtesy to seek my permission before doing so. Thank you.

**Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth**

**Chapter 4 – Moving Along **

Life for Harry and Natalie fell into a routine over the following days. They would wake, Natalie would conjure breakfast and they would then spend the time going through Harry's memories. Natalie was both shocked and appalled by the deal that fate had dealt to Harry, but was also proud at the way he had handled the situations that he had been placed into.

It was around this time that the subject of wandless magic also came up. Harry remembered the first day that he and Natalie had spent together, and the ease with which she had procured them breakfast without a wand.

"Natalie," he asked, "Could you teach me wandless magic?"

It was a testament to how comfortable Harry felt with the other girl that he had the confidence to ask this. The Dursleys had always forbidden him from asking questions, and this engrained habit had stuck with him throughout his time at Hogwarts. Harry had thought that this might explain his inability to grasp the subject material as quickly as some of the others in his classes.

"Sure," she replied. However, there isn't really anything to learn. It's more a matter of focus. You have to keep your mind focused on the result you wish to achieve, more so than when using a wand, as the wand amplifies and channels the magic for you. When casting wandlessly, you have to do this channeling yourself. Most people use their hands, although there is no reason as to why you cannot use anything else. And because wandless magic is essentially the same type of magic as that performed by children when they are younger and not yet bound by the guidelines relating to the restriction of underage magic, it is not tracked by the Ministry."

"So you mean that all that is needed is for a wizard or witch to concentrate hard enough and they can do wandless magic? In that case, why don't more people do it?"

"It's because of the mental focus needed, like I said before. Most wizards or witches, when casting spells, don't really focus on what they are trying to achieve. They focus on the incantation, and because they expect something to happen and are only sub-consciously focusing on it, it happens. They don't have to worry about the amount of power going into the spell because the wand does that for them. This is also why it is so difficult to learn wandless magic, but so simple to do once you've mastered the basic technique."

Harry's eyes widened. It was frightening to think how many people could have managed to use this type of magic, if only they had known the technique. It also brought up questions as to why it had been kept such a secret, as to why only the very magically powerful had been taught it. Harry was determined to use this magic. He remembered the last summer, when he had used wandless magic, albeit very slightly, to find his wand when he had lost it whilst trying to fight the dementors sent after him by Umbridge.

So he practiced every day, starting with simple tasks such as levitating objects and changing their color, and proceeding onto more complex spells such as summoning , banishing and defensive spells such as those used in a duel. He found that indeed, as Natalie had predicted, it took him a while to get the hang of focusing on the result he wanted to achieve, and she suggested that this would probably have been made easier had Snape taught him Occlumency the way he was supposed to. Talking of Snape, it turned out that instead of teaching him, he had, in fact, been doing nothing at all, and may, in fact, have made Harry more prone to the Voldermort-induced visions he had been having. Whether this was because Snape genuinely thought that a 'teach by example' methodology was the best way to instruct someone, or, as was more than likely, was taking out his hatred of James Potter out on his son, nobody could tell.

Another thing that Harry had started to study was the topic of wards. Again, it was Natalie that had encouraged him to investigate this branch of magic. She had been curious as to the type of wards that protected Harry whilst at Privet Drive, and this was coupled with the fact that any magic involving the use of blood from another person was considered by the populous to be dark. The sorting of the knowledge that Harry had gained from Grindelwald was taking time, but Harry had been able to categorize it into some sense of orderliness. He found that Grindelwald had been a ward master, and that as a result he knew a lot about the subject. Harry had realized that although wards were one of those branches of magic that were considered to be used only by the powerful, that they held a lot of potential. One could, if they knew how to, put up wards to protect themselves from attack. They could, again if they knew how, equally so put up wards that would attack anyone who came into contact with them whom was not already authorized by the said wards. Harry had also ordered some books on this subject from Flourish and Blotts, and had been spending a little time every day studying them. He had found that since his merger with Grindelwald, he was far less averse to studying that previously and in fact now had a thirst for knowledge that would make Hermione proud.

The Dursleys had left them pretty much alone since that first morning at breakfast. Aunt Petunia never asked, or more accurately ordered Harry to cook breakfast, and Uncle Vernon never increased his chances of having a coronary by yelling at him. They had come face to face only once, about a week after the initial showdown, when they had stood silently looking into each other's eyes for a moment before going their separate ways. It gave Harry a sense of gratification to know that he was getting on his relatives' nerves, whilst knowing that at the same time they were powerless to do anything about it. He continued to write to the Order every three days as instructed, but carefully neglected to mention anything new that had happened since the start of the summer. Likewise, his friends had also written to him several times, and he had likewise responded, again not giving anything away that would indicate that anything was at all out of the ordinary. He was eagerly awaiting the day when he would be returned to Grimauld Place, for he had no doubt that that is where he would be spending the remainder of the summer. It would be interesting, not to mention fun.


	5. The Showdown

Hi All.

Just a quick note before I move onto the chapter proper. Now I'm not usually the sort of person who would ask this, but I do know that people are reading this, and to have only two reviews so far is not a little disheartening. Even just one line to say hello and that you have read this would give me some inspiration to write more and write better. At the moment, I'm pretty much only writing to get the ideas out of my head and onto paper. So please, take a moment to spare a thought for the author – it really does brighten up my otherwise rather boring day. Anyway, without further ado…

Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth

Chapter 5 – The Showdown

Days passed, and their routine continued. Harry's knowledge and power had increased, and he had finished assimilating all of Grindelwald's memories and had categorized them into a logical order. Natalie had been helping him with wandless magic, and he could now successfully cast all of the spells covered in the Hogwarts curriculum without his wand.

The day finally arrived when Harry would be returning to Number Twelve, Grimauld Place. It was also the day when he planned to announce the return of Lord Grindelwald to the Order of the Phoenix. Harry and Natalie had worked out a plan between them, about both how to do this and how to keep Natalie's presence a secret until the appropriate time. An owl had arrived earlier that morning, advising Harry of his imminent relocation.

_Dear Harry,_

_Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt will arrive at Privet Drive to take you to Order Headquarters at 2pm. Please have your belongings packed and ready by then._

_Albus Dumbledore._

Lunch passed, and it was time for the Order to arrive. Exactly at 2pm, there was a knock on the front door, which was promptly answered by Uncle Vernon. Harry and Natalie could hear muffled voices, followed by a yell.

"BOY! Those sorry excuses for freaks are here! Get yourself down here now!"

Harry grinned. He had accidentally, or rather slyly, forgotten to tell his relatives about just who would be arriving on their doorstep this afternoon. It was always source of great enjoyment to him to see his Uncle get alternately enraged and petrified by anyone from the magical world, or anything so much as related to it.

He slowly made his way along the first floor landing and down the stairs, with Natalie, wrapped in his invisibility cloak right behind him. He could see Nymphadora Dora Tonks standing just inside the front door, with her trademark bubblegum pink hair, today sporting blue and white stripes in addition, and Uncle Version, face a blotchy red, standing against the opposite wall of the front hall, looking as though he wasn't sure whether to be furious, terrified or both.

"Hey, Harry!" called Tonks, ruffling his hair as he stepped off the stairs. "How's things? Kingsley's in the car outside. He managed to borrow a Ministry car for this trip, you know, being an Auror and all."

"Hi Tonks, thanks for coming to get me. I'm OK. Well," he said, seeing the look on her face, "I will be. I'm all packed and ready to go," he continued, gesturing behind him at his trunk, which was levitating just a few millimetres above the ground, but not high enough to be noticed. Harry wanted to avoid any difficult questions for as long as possible.

"Well, that's good. We'll be of then if you're ready." replied Tonks.

"Sure," acknowledged Harry, turning around and through the doorway as Tonks stepped, or rather tripped, over the threshold. Harry caught her just in time to prevent her from splaying all over the Dursley's immaculate front steps.

"Thanks.", she said, blushing, as they made their way down the steps and towards the black Ministry car, with its posh front grills and rear fenders. Harry stopped momentarily, turned, and with a big grin and a cheery wave, said goodbye to the Dursleys. Uncle Vernon was still standing there, but had moved forward a little, his piggy eyes bulging at the sight of the luxurious car.

By this time, Kingsley had stepped around the car and had opened the rear doors for Harry to enter. He took his trunk and started to place it in the boot. Harry made as if to enter the car, but then stopped, a look of panic spreading over his face.

"Wait! I forgot one of my books, and Snape will surely kill me if I don't hand it back when term starts. Could you come with me whilst I get it, Tonks?"

"Sure, no problem." replied the exuberant Tonks as they made their way back into the house. No one except Natalie caught the fleeting hand gesture that Harry made behind his back.

Soon they were all back inside the car making their way towards London. Natalie, still unnoticed, was sitting behind the driver's seat, and despite any outwards sign, Harry could tell she was nervous about meeting everyone. Harry subtlely reached over and gave her hand a squeeze from time to time in order to re-assure her that everything would be all right.

"So how have things been?" asked Harry.

Kingsley and Tonks looked at each other and nodded before Tonks replied.

"Things have been pretty quiet since your expedition to the Department of Mysteries. There has been hardly any movement from the Death Eaters, and we think it's probably because Voldermort was weakened during the battle and is regaining his strength. The Order has mainly been making plans for when Voldermort finally strikes back."

Harry felt a surge of anger at the Order's inability to do anything that involved direct action, which he quickly quashed. It would not do for him to get angry and start yelling at people.

The three of them chatted about inconsequential things for the next hour or so as they left the suburbs of Surrey behind and entered London proper. Harry actually took notice of where they were going, and it suddenly occurred to him that during his last five years and his trips to London, he had never really paid attention to the landmarks they were passing. Knowledge of what route they were taking may come in useful one day, and life was made easier as they were not branching off onto a detour every five minutes, as would usually be the case if Alastor Moody were present due to the ex-auror's understandable, but nevertheless extreme paranoia.

In due course they found themselves pulling up to what looked to be a gap between two houses on a rather narrow, run-down looking street. Looking at what was supposed to be the house they were going to; Harry felt a wave of sadness wash over him. The house used to belong to his Godfather before he died, and the place held some of Harry's happiest memories of his time with him. Again, he shoved these emotions aside. There would be time to go over them later, but there were more important things to do at the present time.

Harry stepped out of the car, and surreptitiously held the door open a moment longer than he strictly needed to so that Natalie could get out as well. He felt her move up beside him and gently took hold of her hand. Thinking of the words that made up the secret of where the house was located, he concentrated, and saw the gab between the two houses replaced by the visage of the rather dreary looking residence of the Black family.

Looking around, he saw that the others had removed his luggage from the car, and had likewise revealed the house to themselves. They walked up the front steps and Kingsley knocked firmly on the door using the large, heavy brass knocker that hung upon it for that very purpose.

There was the sound of keys being turned and bolts being drawn back, and soon the door was swung open to reveal Molly Weasley standing there. She smiled as she saw Harry, and, as expected, he was wrapped up in one of the woman's bone crushing hugs before he could say anything.

"Oh, Harry dear, it's so wonderful to see you. We've all been waiting for you. But,", she said, as she stepped back so that she could examine Harry from head to toe, "you look so thin, but at least you're not as thin as the last time. I do hope those muggles have been treating you better, after all the Order did have words with them at the station. But don't just stand there, come in, come in!"

She almost dragged Harry into the house, and as she did so they could hear the door being closed behind them. As they moved forward, Harry was nearly deafened by two yells of "Harry!", and one of "Hey there, mate!" as Hermione, Ron and Ron's sister Ginny came bounding down the stairs to meet them. He was buried once again as Hermione and Ginny threw themselves upon him, and narrowly avoided suffocating to death by Ron pulling the girls off him.

"How are you?" asked Hermione.

"I'm all right," replied Harry, and continuing before the other girl could interrupt said "I've had a while to think about things and to sort things out in my mind."

"You sure look healthier," commented Ginny, looking him up and down.

"Yes, I've been exercising a bit," he replied, winking slightly at Natalie whom he could feel standing to his right. "My Aunt and Uncle pretty much left me alone this summer, so I had a lot of time to myself."

He turned and walked over to Mrs. Weasley who was still standing in the hall. "Where is Professor Dumbledore?" he asked.

She looked surprised, but answered, anyway. "The Order are having a meeting at the moment, but we should be finished in another half an hour or so. Why don't you children go upstairs and talk for a while, and I'll call you down for something to eat when it's ready?"

Harry looked into the older woman's eyes, his own filled with determination.

"No, Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry, but it is time things were sorted out."

So saying, he moved past the surprised Weasley matriarch and headed towards the door of the dining room, where, from memory, he recalled that the Order of the Phoenix held their meetings. He walked with a sure stride, one that spoke of confidence in what he was doing and determination to see it through to its end. The other teens instinctively moved away from him as he approached. For some reason it did not even occur to them to question his actions, even Hermione, who usually would have been yelling at him to stop. He beckoned Natalie to follow him and could tell that she was there from the tread on the floor behind him.

As he approached, he waved his hand, causing the dining room door to fly open and hit the wall be hind with a loud bang. He could see the members of the Order who had been conversing previously, seated around the large, rounded oak table. Many of them jumped in surprise when the door banged open so suddenly, and a couple had even drawn their wands.

Harry walked into the room and continued towards the head of the table. There sat Albus Dumbledore, looking, as usual, grand and regal in his sparkling, brightly coloured robes and with his long, white beard, half moon spectacles and blue eyes. Harry noticed that they were not twinkling like normal; however this was soon to change. The noise in the room had quieted, as all of the members had recognised the person who had entered and realised that it was not an attack that was taking place. They waited eagerly to see what would happen next.

And not just a few would be surprised by the following events.

Harry stopped about half way up the table, where there was a gap between two of the seated members. The room was silent now, with a sense of expectation in the air. Mrs. Weasley had re-entered the room and taken her seat, and Harry could see from the corner of his eye that Ron, Hermione and Ginny had crowded around the still-open door.

"My Lord!", said Albus, his voice filled with awe and, for those that could spot it, joy and relief as well. "You have returned!"

There were gasps from the surrounding people, some of whom thought privately that the Headmaster had finally lost his long-debated existence, or lack of, sanity.

"Indeed I have.", replied Harry, speaking in a low, rish tone that projected around the room and that was filled with power. He continued now, in the language which he had grown to know well over the last few weeks.

"_Yes, Albus, I am back. No,"_, he added, seeing the doubt in theman's eyes, _"Rest assured I am still Harry Potter, but I am also he whom you knew long ago. I have come back to right what is wrong, I have come back to return what has been stolen. I have come back to aid my people in their time of need, and I have come back to aid a legacy, a destiny."_

Whilst he had been speaking, Harry had been looking around at the other members of the Order. He had come to realise that although Albus was a forgiving man, and apt to give second chances where others would not, this was also a weakness. He did not want to find later on that someone whom they thought was on their wide was, in actual fact, a traitor who had been working against them. The passive legillimency skills learnt from Grindelwald allowed him to se into their minds, gauging their loyalty and commitment to the Order. In the past, he would have been very much against this sort of thing, but this di no bother him now. Something as simple as invading someone's mind was trivial compared to the lives of everyone around him.

He found tht many of the people seated around the table had no mental protection in place at all, and even those that were Aurors or whom worked in the Minstry had basic shields at best. It was obvious that Snape had been right the previous year, when he had said that not many people could master Occlumenc, the art of shielding one's mind from mental penetration.

He found a range of emotions, fear atlosing loved ones, hope that things would get better, but also some anger and frustration that more wasn't being done to stop Voldermort and the Death Eaters.

He came to the twins, Fred and George Weasley and was astounded to find that there was already a link in plac between them. He supposed that this was to be expected somewhat, as they were twins after all, and it was said that there was a special bond that tied twins together, similar to that which bound brother and sister, although much stronger. He had always wondered how they were able to complete each other's sentences, and know, amost instinctually what the other was thinking, and he guessed he now knew. Not wanting to cause a stir, he did the mental equivillant of knocking on the link before withdrawing from their minds and moving on. Back in the real world, a look of surprise flitted across their faces before being replaced with one of curiosity.

He moved onto the Potions Master, Severus Snape, and found unsurprisingly that themans shields were strong and solid. This was a difficult one, as Harry had never managed to tell, for certain, just whose side the man was on. Focussing his mental probe into a think beam, he directed it at the shields, smashing into them and drilling through to the other side.

Back at the table, Snape's head suddenly snapped backwards as though he had been struck.

"Silence!", said Harry, within his mind, realising the man was about to say something aloud that could give him away. "And for Merlin's sake don't let those shields down one bit." The urgency in his voice must have registered with Snape, as he remined silent as Harry withdrew, moving onto the next person.

"_Well, thank you, my friend. It is indeed an honour to have you with us, to see you again after all this time."_

"_That is true, however now is not the time to reminiss about the past. Albus, you are a great man, who has done many great things, but even you are not infallible. Step back for a moment and take a look at the world around you. Look at it from an abstract point of view. The Death Eaters are running riot, the Ministry is in chaos and the people live in fear. The papers spend their time running personal crusades against upstanding members of the public instead of calming and helping the population. The aurors are under-trained, under-staffed and under-skilled, and you have a Minister who is more concerned about the amount of gold in his pockets than the safety and stability of the wizarding world._

"_Oh, and Albus, you should know that Tom never really left Ginny after her second year. He is still there, or at least his essence is still there in her mind. She as done her best to keep him at bay, but now that he has regained his body I don't know how long it will be before he realises he has a connection with her as well as me."_

A look of panic swept across the Headmaster's face. "What would you recommend?", he asked.

"Falucius Imperio should do it.", Harry replied.

There was another series of gasps from the members of the Order at the mention of the word 'Imperio', which many immediately associated with the unforgiveable Imperius Curse, the mind-controlling spell. Moody, his fake eye spinning madly in its socket, opened his mouth, about to start on a no doubt vociferous diatribe on the unforgivable nature of such an unforgivable curse and Harry, noticing this, quickly froze the ex-auror in place with a gentle wave of his hand.


	6. The Showdown Part 2

**Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth**

DISCLAIMER

I do not own any of the trademarks, characters, settings or situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe. J. K. Rowling holds all copyrights for these. All other material contained herein is my own. This material may be copied or reproduced in alternative formats, however I ask you out of courtesy to seek my permission before doing so. Thank you.

Chapter 6 – The Showdown – Part 2

Dumbledore stood. "Falucius Imperio!, he said, his wand pointed at Ginny, who was still standing by the open door, but now with a look of slight fear upon her face. A jet of white light streaked towards her, and seemed to coil around her head. The Headmaster remained standing, however everyone could see his arm beginning to shake the longer the spell continued, as though he was having difficulty maintaining the connection between himself and Ginny.

"My Lord," he gasped, after about a minute. "I cannot hold on much longer."

"Astrengo Multiplica.", said Harry calmly, pointing his wand at the Headmaster. His face relaxed from the strained look it had before, the brightness of the light connecting Ginny and himself seemed to intensify and about a minute, later a black, shadowy form seemed to be forced out from the back of the girl's head.

This having been done, Albus retook his seat and Harry continued with his speech. The others in the room were either too shocked or surprised to do anything other than remain silent.

"_Fine Now that that has been taken care of, we must think about what we should do from here on. It is clear that something needs to be done, and done so quickly. Albus, you cannot simply continue to sit on the back burner, so to speak. You cannot continue to let the Death Eaters take the lead in this war, simply cleaning up after them. You must show the people that there is a side that they can follow. You must show them that not all hope is lost. You must give them a reason not to just surrender to the dark side now!_"

While he spoke, he waved his hand to emphasise his point.

"We might as well surrender now and do nothing! We might as well lie down like beaten puppies and let Voldermort walk all over us!"

There were gasps from the members of the Order. The Headmaster stood up again, his face a mask of fury.

"Never! I will not let that happen!" His tone was vehement, definite and uncompromising.

"Good!" replied Harry, his voice rising passionately. "Get angry! Start cursing things! Show us the most powerful wizard in the world that people claim you to be! Show us the one wizard in the world that Voldermort fears, that plagues his nightmares, that has stopped his conquests time and time again!"

"I can, and I will. You are right, My Lord. Things have gone on long enough. We can work together to make things better, to bring about change to the wizarding world."

Harry looked around to see what the reaction to the previous outburst was. He could see new determination on the faces of the members of the Order. The Weasley Twins were looking at Harry with awe on their faces. Molly on the other hand looked slightly sour. Harry could guess why. She had always been somewhat of a mother hen to her children and to Harry and Hermione as well. She really did not like the idea of any of her children taking part in what she called 'adult's business'. Harry knew that she had a genuine fear of losing members of her family; he had seen evidence of this himself in the shape of a boggart, which she had confronted the year before. Nevertheless, Harry couldn't help thinking that Molly had lost sight of the bigger picture. Her children would soon be adults, and Harry doubted that they would just sit back and let the world fall apart around them.

Whilst thinking about Molly, Harry decided to have a quick peek into her mind. Whereas he was not in the least suspicious about her loyalty to the Order, after all, out of all of the members, she was the most vocal about voicing her displeasure about letting her children join in the fight, but his experiences had taught him that one could never be too careful. Like many of the others, she had a thin shield that protected her memories, which he passed through with ease. What he found shocked him to the core. Whereas she had no sympathy for Voldermort of his Death Eaters, they had killed her two older brothers, there was no love lost for Dumbledore and his cause either. She felt that it was his fault that her brothers had died; he was the one that had recruited them into the Order. Harry found that she was essentially working towards her own goals, those being to see her and her family through the war and out onto the other side in the best position possible. She had used her husband's gentle nature to her advantage, cutting off his influence on the family, casting his headship aside. She was loose cannon, her motherly nature a facade to hide her, to Harry's mind, rather vindictive streak. She had taken her protective instinct to the point where she had put her own son, Ron, under an imperious curse in a bid to keep him safe. She did not, however, count on Ron's loyalty to his friends, loyalty that had led Ron into situations, which his mother had never approved of.

Harry withdrew from the woman's mind, his face neutral, not showing even a trace of emotion.

"_Albus_.", he said, continuing so the others wouldn't understand. The last thing he wanted was to start a panic. "_We have a problem. To put it bluntly, Molly Weasley is not as, err, shall we say, light-minded as she would lead us to believe_."

"_And what leads you to this conclusion?_" asked Albus.

"_Oh, don't get me wrong. She holds no love for Voldermort or the Death Eaters, but she's not that fond of you either. She thinks it's everyone else's but her own fault that her brothers were killed and is basically working with her own agenda. I'd say she was just very self-centred and overly mis-guided in her thinking. Oh, and she has Ron under the mind-controlling spell for his safety. The orders are to not get hurt in any way - needless to say, it hasn't worked, but now we know why he had so much difficulty resisting the curse with the false Moody placed it on him in fourth year in class. He was so used to it by then he didn't notice it_."

Albus' face had once again taken on a furious look as Harry continued his explanation. By the time he had finished he was once again standing, his wand pointed straight at Mrs. Weasley's heart.

"TRAITORS!" he thundered. "I WILL NOT STAND FOR IT. I have had enough of all this backstabbing and counter-productiveness. AVA-". He started, only to be stopped in his tracks by Harry's abrupt and harsh command.

"Halt! Albus, have you completely lost your mind? Think of what you are doing! Look around you. Is this the way to inspire confidence and the loyalty you were just referring to?".

The Headmaster looked around. There were looks of confusion and disbelief on the faces of the people seated around the table. Moody's magical eye, however, was spinning crazily in its socket turned towards Molly Weasley. The woman herself was rooted to her chair, her eyes wide and face pale. Her mouth was open but no sound came out.

"You are right, My Lord, and I am sorry.".

"_Albus, it is truly ironic that I should be saying this to you, but that is quite all right. Just remember to look at the position from all angles. Killing Molly Weasley would achieve nothing - in fact, it would do quite the opposite. The Weasley family is well known amongst the Light Families. It would be best to do nothing at this point - but I think we can dampen her opinions a little - maybe her children will show her that simply stowing them in a corner away from everything will not protect them ahs she thinks. I will remove the curse from Ronald later - it would be best if she did not suspect that we know about it. At the moment the worst she can think is that you are displeased with her over-protectiveness, which is nothing new._"

Albus smiled. "_That is true, and thank you_."

"_You are welcome, Albus. Where would we be if we did not work together?_".

Switching back to English, he continued. "Albus, everybody, I would like you to meet my very good friend Natalie."

The members looked around, not seeing anyone that wasn't already there. They looked at Harry in confusion.

He chuckled. "You can come out from under that invisibility cloak now." There was a rustle of fabric as she appeared, grinning, and her eyes bright.

"Nicely done.", she commented.

"Natalie has been staying with me for the last several weeks at Privet Drive. I must say the Muggles were pleasantly silent and unobtrusive since the day after she arrived."

"What did she do?", asked Tonks. "And how did we not notice her?", chimed in Kingsley.

Harry laughed. "Would you believe it if I said she just shouted at them? Fairly put them in their place. I swear she did more to get them off my back in 1 hour than I have in sixteen years. And as for how she got past you, you really should be more observant. Sometimes what you is least expecting can be found right in front of you."

The two aurors looked rather abashed. Harry smiled at them to show his comments were not intended to be hurtful. It was returned weakly.

Harry turned back to the Headmaster who had been watching the previous interactions. "Now, getting down to business. We need to sort out eh Ministry before anything else undesirable happens. Honestly, the current state of affairs is unacceptable."

"Potter!", barked Professor Minerva McGonagall, who had hitherto remained silent. "How you can be so single-minded as to presume that you can simply walk in and turn around Ministry policies that have stood for decades. There are protocols that must-". She was cut off as Albus cast a quick silencing charm, which hit her in mid-sentence.

"My Lord is correct. We must act now that we have the resources to do so. There have been many unfortunate events that have occurred over the last years as a result of our combined negligence. No one person is at fault, but us all collectively as a society.".

"The main thing we need to do is to change these ridiculous underage magic restriction laws so that more students can defend themselves if attacked. We also need to do something about Fudge before he fudges up anything else."

There were giggles and titters from around the table at the unintended pun


	7. The Initial Salvo

Harry Potter and Grindelwald's Rebirth

DISCLAIMER

I do not own any of the trademarks, characters, settings or situations that are part of the Harry Potter universe. J. K. Rowling holds all copyrights for these. All other material contained herein is my own. This material may be copied or reproduced in alternative formats, however I ask you out of courtesy to seek my permission before doing so. Thank you.

Chapter 7 – The Initial Salvo

"We will start with the Ministry. It would be better if I were to meet with our dear Minister," (his voice took on a scathing tone) "alone."

He continued, seeing several of the Order members about to protest. "Not only do I have knowledge of the Ministry's enchantments and wards going back hundreds of years, but I am Harry Potter. The Minister may be stupid, but he is not that stupid as to forsake a possible endorsement from the Boy Who Lived himself. No, he will meet with me today."

He reached into the pocket on his outer robe and pulled out a clear glass orb that was small, round and about the size of a tennis ball. He explained, placing it in the middle of the table. "This is a scrying orb linked to myself. It is very delicate and finely attuned so please do not disturb it. It will show you what is happening around me, both visually and with sound. Don't worry; it only works one way so you will not be seen by anyone at the other end."

So saying, he spun on his heel and Apparated, leaving a still bemused and confused Order of the Phoenix behind.

A/N: Sorry for the short update. I'm preparing for my last exam for this session, and will then be tied down with Honour's Projects. However, I have reposted Chapter 6 with spelling corrections as poor spelling and grammar is a bit of a pet peeve of mine. Anyway cheers and take care. H.


	8. Notice

Hello.

This is an advisory note being posted on all my stories. All stories are being revamped from the ground up. It has been nearly three years since I started writing, and I've naturally changed both as a person and in my style of writing over that period. Also, I've changed my mind on many of the plot lines I wanted to work on, and the release of the last two HP books have a lot to do with that.

This is to advise all my readers that I am in no way giving up on my writing. In fact, now that the HP series is officially over, I think this gives me an even greater opportunity to write some truly awesome fanfiction without more official sequels being published and taking some of the value of what I have to write.

I will leave this note here until the first of the new chapters is ready for release. I was originally intending to simply delete all my stories but then realised that, although I've been a less than stellar author, there are some out there that truly appreciate what I've done thus far, and I wanted to leave this work here as a reminder of what's gone before and the reviews I've received that have really inspired me to keep at it.

I am now starting the second session of a one-year Masters that ends in June 2009. Then, depending on my achieved grades, I'll move onto a dissertation culminating in my finishing class in September and graduating in November. There are busy times ahead, which along with other social commitments will place strong demands on my time. I'm also working on my own non-fanfiction novel. What this all means is that I have a lot of ideas swirling around in my head, a lot of things I want to do and less time than I'd like to do them in. So please, just bear with me - I'll get there in the end. I'm always up for a chat about my writing or anything in general, and if you therefore want to contact me individually to give me a gentle nudge there, or just to catch up, I'd love to hear from you.

Finally, thank you. Thank you for sticking with me. There are so many stories on both this site and others, many, which are significantly more developed and time-worthy, then mine. Sometimes, it's quite a blow to morale to realise you're just one of thousands of authors out there vying for readers' attention. In addition, with so many different plot lines having been investigated and written about, it's hard to not repeat something that's gone before, and to make your own work really original and praise-worthy. This is something I'm desperately trying to aim for, and where your support and encouragement has meant a lot to me.

Thanks again, and see you soon.

Best,

Hussein.


	9. Important Author Note

EDIT: I have placed a poll on my profile page for those that wish to vote anonymously. If you haven't done so already, please read the note below for a full explanation of what I'm talking about. Thanks for your time.

**Important Author Note – Where do we go from here?**

Hello All.

Cliché I know, but firstly please accept my sincere apologies for the unacceptably long delay in updating this and all my other stories. Apologies especially to those that were kind enough to spare a moment to review, or add me to their favourite/watch lists. Trust me when I say that this means a lot to me, and that I've relished your reviews, criticisms and advice.

If you've got this far, please read to the end. I'm going to explain what's going on, and then give you, my readers, and a choice.

I'm still just as committed to Harry Potter and these stories, as I was when I started writing years ago. In fact, as time has passed, I've had even more ideas about where I want the plots to go, and I really do believe I can make something worthwhile out of them. I have several scenes from different stories that I've worked on now and again, which I would hope to fit into the final versions.

Having said that, real life has kept me from writing, and for once, the excuse isn't a lack of time but health issues. I suffer from ever worsening Reynaud's in my fingers. In short, it's a constriction of the blood vessels in the fingers that cause them to go ice cold, and then leave me in agony for hours as they warm up again. Anything less than it being positively sweltering causes an attack to surface, so you can imagine the weather we've had of late has not been conducive to my feeling all that great. Sometimes I'll catch a break for a few hours, at other times I'll be practically living in bed for weeks (as was the case most recently in November 2009). To anyone unfortunate enough to suffer from this, you know what I mean. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy, and what's really soul destroying is that it stops me from doing just the things I enjoy the most. Also, as I'm partially sighted, the computer, and thus my fingers are my lifeline. Therefore, you can hopefully understand why I try to prioritise on the most important activities during what pain-free time I do get.

I'm not just writing for the sake of it, but because I genuinely enjoy it, and thus I want to take the time to make the best of it that I can. If that involves writing half a dozen drafts of a chapter, so be it. So, whereas I could dash off a University essay in a few hours and be happy with it, chapters for my stories do take significantly longer to take form.

Because of this, and because I know how frustrating it is to see stories which seem as though they may be a good read later on just seem to fizzle out and die with no update for months on end, I thought it was only fair for me to give you the chance to choose where I go from here. I see the following possibilities:

1. I can stop all my stories here and give them up for adoption. I'd hope whoever took them on would be just as passionate about them as I am, and I'd still be honoured to have some input in tossing ideas around, but they would have the final word and set the schedule, etc. I'd be happy to hand over my notes and unwritten scenes to the adopter. Whereas being credited as the original creator would be nice, I won't insist on it, as I don't believe I have the right.

2. I can stop all my stories here and remove them from the site. I don't suppose there's much point in having something online that isn't going anywhere. Whether I start up again in the future with either a totally new story, a story that merges parts of those I've already worked on, or not at all, would have to be seen.

3. I can continue to work on the stories at my own pace, but I would be unable to promise any timescales for updates. There's just no way of saying what the health will do from one day to the next. Also, whereas I've now finished with university as of October 2009, I'm still in the process of pressing a formal complaint due to grievances with the way the course ended. Also, I'm now coming under pressure to find a job, which could be anytime, or not for a long while. I suppose it helps that I won't get my official results until February and papers until July.

There's not much more to add, but as I said before I feel that as I'm not just writing for myself, I owe it to my readers to let them decide the fate of what's published here. I'll leave this open for a fortnight or so, maybe a little longer, before I decide myself. Please let me know your thoughts in a review or by mail or private message if you prefer.

Thanks, and sorry once again.

P.S: I had Alphabeat 'Spell' and Abba 'The Winner Takes It All' playing in the background whilst I dashed this off. Both are great songs, if a little melancholy, but they seem to fit the mood.

EDIT: As of 14 January 2010 I have 5 votes for option 3 above. I mention this only as the votes may have been deleted whilst this note was updated.


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